Lost – ‘LAX Parts 1 & 2’ – 6.1 & 6.2

The Beginning of the End.

That’s what ABC’s crack team of sales weasels have been billing last night’s season premiere. And based on what we’ve seen, they may be right – or they could be way off. After all, there seemed to be ample evidence to support that we may just be watching the End of the Beginning. After all, our intrepid brand of heroes eventually made their way to their original destination, LAX, as spoiled completely in the Title Card.

I’m getting way ahead of myself though. Before we hit this in some semblance of chronological style, I’ll offer up a little house cleaning for any new readers.

I started this Blog way back in the Winter of 2006, so we’re officially past my 4 year anniversary. In that time, I’ve published almost 400 full length articles on this site. At the beginning, when I was looking for something to write about aside from my inane ramblings, I decided to start posting weekly recaps of the latest Lost episodes. The inspiration behind that was to somehow work out my own theories on what was going on in the show.

After all, this show presses all the right buttons in me. I love serialized sci-fi conspiracy thriller character pieces. That and Skinemax. Arguably, the former are few and far between. One of my all time faves is The X-Files – an amazing show that arguably should have ended 5 years sooner.

Which is why the Lost plan thrills me to no end. Three years ago, showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carleton Cuse approached ABC out of concern that the network would run the show until ratings tanked and then unceremoniously cancel it or order up a finale in short order. The two guys cared for their baby (co-created with JJ Abrams) and wanted to insure they could tell a full and complete story. So, they negotiated an End Date and surprisingly ABC bit on it. In a rare example of corporate common sense, they chose quality over quantity and ever since then – with Cuse and Lindelof able to march to a May 2010 finale – the show has been freed to chase down its wildest dreams, tossing all manner of time travel and supernatural happenstance in the mix – with the knowledge that what really makes this show work is the strength of its characters. On that point, Lost is held up by a solid core.

Lost is an expensive show to film. It’s rare we get something this good that is allowed to flourish on its own with a minimum of studio interference. Enjoy this last season because it’s bound to be the last of its kind for quite awhile. Sure, ABC will continue to toss things at the wall in hopes the next high concept sticks but something like Lost (and The X-Files) is akin to lightning in a bottle. Once or twice a decade we see it come together perfectly.

And now we’re a mere 18 episodes away from releasing the charge.

So, for you newbies, feel free to scour the archives (or just hit the LOST button at the top of the home page) and you’ll find years worth of Lost posts. And on a weekly basis, usually by noon the following day, I’ll offer up my musings of the prior night’s show.

And I really want to make this a dialogue, encouraging all of you to add your voice to the mix in the Comments below. Sure it’s my site, and my musings, but I don’t have all the answers – not even close. Hell, I’m just spitballing here. So, throw me an “Amen Brutha” or shoot down my wildest notions. Let’s start a dialogue and really have fun with this last season.

After this one, all I have left to cover is Gossip Girl. (Is that still on?)

Enough prattle. Let’s get Lost.

1. Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first. Alternate Time Lines. That’s what Jack created when the hydrogen bomb was detonated by Juliet last season. Once upon a time we had flashbacks. Then we had flash forwards. Now we have flashsideways. As Miles learned from Juliet later in the episode, “It Worked” – only not as Jack completely expected.

2. To paraphase Daniel Faraday, time travel is a bitch. Daniel was insistent – there’s no changing the past or the future. At least not along the same time line. This goes way over my head but the rudimentary idea behind string theory is that time is one concrete line but theorists postulate that along that line other tendrils can spring, if the right INSANE conditions are met, thereby creating alternate time lines. This is where Black Hole talk gets you – time travel, alternate dimensions, déjà vu. It’s all theoretical of course but scientifically sound if ever proven possible.

3. So, at a base level, Faraday told them they could never simply alter time but he theorized that the hydrogen bomb detonated at a place as special as “the Island” could potentially create a new path. In one time line, Jack and company would revert back to their former selves before they ever crashed on the island and would continue on their flight towards LAX.

4. What Daniel didn’t account for is that by splintering the time line, the two entities (i.e. the two Jacks) might retain some knowledge of past events. The one on the island is fully cognizant of his past on the island.

5. The one on the plane in the “corrected timeline” is somewhat oblivious, although we’re given enough lingering shots of his face as something like dawning awareness or déjà vu creeps across it, to realize that he suspects something’s off but can’t quite put his finger on it. In a sense, it’s like that episode from the last season when Faraday visits a hatch-bound Desmond and implants a memory in his head. He doesn’t change the future but he influences it as Desmond wakes in the current day with the inexplicable drive to go help his friends. As if it all came to him in a dream.

6. So that’s what’s going on with the plane bound Jack. And I presume the other passengers as well. The thing is, even that timeline is a little screwy as important details have changed from the first time we met them all on the plane and these differences all appear to be intentional. They hint that while Jack set one time line back on schedule, it has been altered slightly thereby indicating another deviating thread off the original time line. Before I get into those, I figured I’d post my wild and crazy theory about what I think this season will be about.

7. Tying off loose ends. Or, closing out some of these alternate timelines. Essentially, bringing them together – thereby Jack and company end up whole again – on the original flight headed back to LAX. More on that in a moment but that’s what I think the point of these flashsideways are all about. Eventually the LAX Jack and company are going to realize that while everything looks right, it’s not. And somehow they need to converge with their island selves again.

8. I think the Jacob/Man-in-Black stuff weighs heavily into this and is likely the cause of the fluctuation in time lines. My guess is that had Ben not killed Jacob, the balance between good and evil would have been fine and Jack’s hydrogen detonation may have proven successful. This secondary time line – where they are still on the island – hints at unfinished business. As if, they are needed to mount a stand against the Man in Black and thus cannot be fully returned to their plane-bound selves. Sort of a Hail Mary toss on behalf of a dying Jacob.

9. That’s where we have to address their true nature. I touched on this a lot last year, but I think it’s clear that Jacob and the Man in Black represent ultimate Good and Evil. Sure, there’s religious overtones to the show but it’s sort of a melting pot approach. After all, we’ve seen ample Judeo-Christian references, Egyptian gods, etc. And I think that’s the crux of it all. Behind most world religions are two concepts – a. Where do you go when you die? and b. How do you go about making yourself a good person? On that latter point, there needs to be a counterpoint. A “What Not to Do” – which is essentially the dark side of the moon. EVIL!!!

10. And that’s the central conceit behind Lost. On this amazing island, two figures are locked in a battle for power. They both seem to have long-range influence (as in Jacob’s ability to draw people to the island) and they both seem to be attempting to prove the true nature of man. Jacob feels that man is essentially good; he just needs to work real hard at it to prove his theory. He gets small measures before they ultimately kill each other but as he put it “It only has to end once. Everything before that is just progress.” The Man in Black revels in man’s constant, predictable behavior. “They come. They fight. They corrupt. They kill. It always ends the same.”

11. Their debate brings to mind the debates of the Gods; always looking down upon man in judgment.

12. My feeling is that the show is not subscribing to one religious discipline but allowing these two to act as ciphers for most religions. And that’s why you boil it down simply to Jacob = Good, Man in Black = Evil. And as long as they remain on that island – locked in battle with each other – the balance of the two forces remains and the world remains OK.

13. So now the world’s screwed.

14. Yup, MiB took advantage of Ben and got him to murder Jacob. Of course, we saw all that last season but one thing this episode spelled out quite clearly is that John Locke is definitely DEAD and MiB is now the defacto leader of the island; thereby setting up a pretty grave condition for the Lost survivors.

15. Now that I write that, I may amend by flashsideways theory. I still believe we’re looking at an alternate time line but what if this is like the “It’s A Wonderful Life” approach. We’re seeing a possible future where the bomb goes off but the Man in Black wins. The island is swamped. Jack and company are oblivious to the island and its fate. And the Man in Black, with Jacob out of the way, is free to exert his influence in the world. This would call to mind Daniel Faraday’s mother’s (Eloise) assertions that what they are called upon to do will affect the fate of the world.

16. One thing about the Man in Black that I find interesting is the creator’s admission that is what he should be called in lieu of an actual name. I’m a huge Stephen King fan and one of my favorite works (shared by the Lost creators) is The Dark Tower books, a fantasy series that involves a race against time between the forces of good and evil to prevent one world from spilling over into another. It deals with alternate universes and time lines – with a fantasy land merging into our real world. At the heart of the crooked conspiracy is an evil entity that has designs on crushing all universes by disrupting the balance of power. A disparate group of individuals (including a junkie and one in a wheelchair) are brought together to chase down this villain. The first book, titled The Dark Tower, begins – “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”

17. I don’t think they are stealing but rather paying homage to one of their more vocal celebrity fans. King has voiced his love of the show in many avenues – including his recurring feature in Entertainment Weekly, and a few years back, the Lost creators met with King about potentially turning The Dark Tower series into a film or television show. They’ve specifically cited this series, as well as The Stand, as being inspirational in the creation of Lost – so these plot parallels make sense.

18. So, two theories. Either LAX Jack needs to reconvene with island Jack and tie together one time line –or- island Jack needs to kill the Man in Black (or resurrect Jacob), thereby bringing balance back to the force thus allowing the natural balance of good and evil to resume and eliminate the dark days that may lie ahead.

19. All right, enough of all the big picture stuff. After all, we’re about 4 pages in. I need to focus on some of the random stuff I picked up on. With an episode this chock full of incident it’s doubtful I’ll hit it all which is exactly what the Comments are for, to let you guys color in your own pictures.

20. The neat thing about this alternate reality is the ability to pull forth some familiar faces although you’ll notice that the dead characters had a way of hinting something was off.

21. First, there was the interaction between Boone and Locke. Boone gave Locke a lift with his line – “I’d follow you anywhere”. That being said, the major difference in his story line is his inability to coax Shannon back home, leaving her in that abusive relationship. That’s one of the first signs that we’re not seeing a true recreation of what would have happened had the plane never crashed.

22. Then there was the Charlie incident, and more specifically, his statement to Jack. “I was supposed to die” – which can be taken two ways. First, we know at that point he was a downtrodden, borderline suicidal junkie. But, there’s something telling in the way he sort of gives Jack a premonition. He’s not supposed to be alive. His resurrection aboard this plane flies in the face of “destiny”. In a way, it sort of bodes ill will for what’s to come for LAX Jack.

23. Then there was Desmond’s mysterious appearance (and disappearance) on the plane. Was he ever really there? We know he was never on the plane in the first place and the fact that he appeared to Jack and then mysteriously disappeared makes one wonder if this was LAX Jack’s latent memory playing tricks on him – as if his island experience is beginning to bleed over to this alternate reality and he is seeing (and conversing) with people he really shouldn’t know.

24. Back to the island, we got conclusive proof that the Man in Black and “Smokey” are one in the same. Great line – “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

25. This also validated the use of ash that is often referred to as a guard against evil spirits. The ash had originally been seen circling Jacob’s cabin and in last season’s finale, Iliana expressed fear at the broken line of ash. She mentioned that Jacob hadn’t been there for a while and someone else had been using the cabin. As we know, Jacob was living in the shadow of the statue meaning the cabin was used to contain the Man In Black. Which means that when Locke first confronted what he believed to be a bound Jacob, he was really seeing the imprisoned Man in Black. His cry, “Help Me”, makes complete sense now that we know that Locke and Ben inadvertently helped him escape and find his loophole to kill Ben.

26. And we finally made it to the Temple. This is the same “holy ground” that Richard first mentioned a few seasons back. Prior to the arrival of the freighter people, he sent his people (The Others) on an exodus to The Temple. This group of people included the flight attendant Cindy who had been taken, along with those two young kids, when they were with the Tail Section people back at the beginning of Season 2. As we learned in the 3rd Season and had confirmed in this episode, they are fully integrated with The Others, and in The Temple, they have their best chance of protection and survival.

27. The Temple also appears to contain The Fountain of Youth which likely explains Richard’s ageless appearance – although as the John Lennon Other mentioned, something has happened to the water. Its clarity has been destroyed with Jacob’s destruction.

28. Did you catch MiB’s pithy comment to Richard – “I can’t get used to you free from those chains”? I think that’s a direct reference to The Black Rock, which we learned was a slave vessel. I think we now have a good idea of how old Richard Alpert is and how he got there in the first place.

29. As for the John Lennon and Yoko Others, I would posit that they report to Jacob in a similar capacity as Richard. They have likely been there a very long time and run the Temple. I don’t have a lot on them other than I’m sure we’ll find out more about them, and their hierarchy, in the weeks ahead.

30. All right – two more points then I’m done. I know there’s plenty more to chew on, but again, that’s what the Comments are for.

31. One of the best scenes of the night was Locke MiB talking with Ben about Locke’s final thoughts. While mocking Locke’s pathetic existence he also heralded his pure nobility. He was a man who was cast a horrible lot in life, multiple times, and yet when given the chance to finally rise up, he took it and recognized the island for its true beauty and power. And while MiB wants to be anywhere else but there, he’s respectful of that. I thought he nailed one of TV’s most compelling characters and it is sad to see the real Locke go – as misguided and misled as he could often be.

32. I think we’re going to come back to that poignant “first meeting” between LAX Jack and LAX Locke. Could the Man of Science eventually heal the Man of Faith?

33. Finally, we have Sayid’s resurrection that leads me to believe that if he can come back, perhaps Jacob and Locke aren’t that lost a cause. In fact, maybe Jacob lives on in another?

Comments now closed (37)

Ed, Nice write up as usual. What I found interesting is how completely different some characters lives are/will be in LA now that they have arrived vs. their island selves if they don’t merge back together so to speak as you say. Locke is back to sad existance which is displayed when he lies to Boone and says he went on the walkabout. Although let’s see if Jack can “fix him” in that reality. Charlie is busted vs. dead… Kate is running from the law vs. beating the rap… Clair is now semi kidnapped by Kate vs. who knows… Sun lets Jin get taken away and plays Dumb as their relationship is still strained vs. her having their child and searching him out… Hurley said he was the luckiest person and nothing bad ever happens… that was another differnece in this reality and it looks like Saywer will be going after him for a con… Rose and Bernard, you have to assume she will die since the island did not heal her… So for some it is good, for some it is bad. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. I bet you excited for the Kate centric ep next week…

I’m really excited about the alternate timelines. What initially came to mind was the Tangent Universe theory from Donnie Darko, where the Tangent Universe branches off the Primary Universe (when the H-Bomb was detonated). But like you pointed out, in the alternate timeline not all is exactly the same as it was in the primary timeline, so will they both continue to coexist, or will one timeline collapse (and possibly take both out).

In Sayid – I’m thinking that Jacob found his own ‘loophole’… That’s not Sayid anymore (especially how he came out of the water in that ‘Jesus Christ Pose’) – That and the fact that it seemed Miles suspected something odd about Sayid – looked like he was about to say that he wasn’t dead…

@Chris – Next week’s episode “What Kate Does” is a riff off the Season 1 episode title – “What Kate Did”. I like how the writers are having some fun with that while also playing into the game changers that are now in place.

I think you keyed in on some very important things – that not all of this is a rosy future. Like I said, it’s sort of like the “It’s a Wonderful Life” approach – showing a darker outcome based on changes in the past. It’s gonna’ be interesting to see how this plays out.

@PrfktTear – I like your D. Darko reference, as I think that version of time travel neatly mirrors the one on Lost and vice-versa. In fact, Darko should be required viewing for the true Lost fan.

By the way – how many mainstream audience members completely had their minds blown or jumped ship to The Biggest Loser after last night’s episode. I’m already sick of the shear number of people on my Facebook feed bitching and moaning that “They gave Lost one more chance and now they’re done.”

What?!?!? You waited until the beginning of Season 6, as we’re 18 episodes away from the end, to dive back in and see if you could somehow play catch-up. Go away. We don’t want you. : )

Anyway, onto your point. I’m guess that the grave threat could be the ability for these time lines to collapse into each other meaning one has to go.

@Joe – I’m glad you posted that theory as we discussed because I missed it and I think you absolutely nailed it. It absolutely makes sense and keys in on everything we’re led to believe about Jacob. The imagery you mentioned (as well as “baptism”) is right on and in Sayid’s final breath, he talked about needing redemption for all of the evil he’s done. Looks like he’s gonna’ get it.

@Sarah – Richard did indeed bring young Ben into the temple to be healed but my guess is that through Ben’s continuous weasely ways over the years, whatever benefits they’ve granted him have been stricken from the record. In fact, MiB Locke made reference to that in the season finale when he reminded Ben that despite everything he had done for the island, the island gave him cancer. So what the island giveth – it also taketh away.

Hey Ed- New Lost watcher here! Brendan and I caught up on Seasons 1-5 during the fall and the holidays and were anticipating last night’s episode alongside all the faithful watchers:) I loved reading this today! It really got my mind flowing with possibilities! Loved #25 about the ash and how Ben and Locke were the ones to free MiB.
Work is buzzing with theories today, so I thought I’d share some.
1- Just something remembered; MiB has taken shape of others whose bodies are on the island, you mentioned Yemi, but also Christian Shepard (and quite often!).
2- The statement that Cindy (flight attendant from 815) makes at the temple, “they are from the first crash” implies there’s another crash. But haven’t the 2007 characters already been in two crashes? Consider this: the 2004 characters are going to be “called” back to the island for different reasons and crash anyway, perhaps on Ajira 316 and end up on the island months before in 2007 (or three years later). Are they already there??

@Lauren – Great call on the other bodies that MiB has taken. All throughout the series, whenever a dead loved one appears to someone, it’s usually just before they are judged. The Yemi example is a good one as is last season when Alex came to Ben and told him to follow everything John Locke said – which we now know was really MiB Locke taking a moment to become MiB Alex.

And Christian is a good call, especially when we saw him inhabiting Jacob’s cabin at the end of the 3rd Season, with the recently departed Claire by his side.

The crash thing throws me a bit. She might have just been delineating between the Oceanic crash and the Ajira crash – but, I agree that the other time line group (the LAX Jack, etc) will get the call once again to return to the island to set right what once went wrong.

Glad to see you and Brendan jumping aboard. 2009 must have been our year to trade Geek properties. : ) I dove headfirst into Harry Potter and completed the series (AND LOVED IT) and you guys went head first into my obsession. And just this past weekend, I booted up my first Battlestar Galactica disc. I’m 7 eps in on that one so I have a ways to got to catch up. So now you owe me another. : )

Last thing – I started doing these weekly recaps back in 2006 so the archives are extensive (although at the top of the home page there is a hyperlink labeled Lost which collects them all in one neat place). Anyway – beyond that, if you scroll down the home page, I published a piece a few days ago focusing on my Top 10 Favorite Moments in the show’s history (2 per year). Take a read and let me know what I missed (especially since you guys have freshly boned up on it all).

Now, the big question is – what do we go crazy about after this is off the air? Jersey Shore? Not sure I can fill 10,000 words on Sookie.

It’s back….. and with a fist pump into the air I can’t wait to watch the final 18 episodes! Ed your write up was fantastic as usual!

I agree that Jacob now is back, but in Sayid’s body. That was the first thing my boyfriend and I discussed once the episode was over. It took a lot of planning and a lot of time for MiB to get to his loop hole to find and kill Jacob. When Ben stabbed Jacob he didn’t fight back, and Ben asked that very question to MiB. Maybe this is all part of Jacob’s plan? He saw this coming from MiB, and knew he had to die in order to defeat MiB in the future with the help of the Oceanic 815 survivors. Crazy thought… but just maybe….

I also agree with the sideways timeline as Ed put it. We’ve seen back in time, forward in time, and now sideways as a splintered time. I think Desmond being on the plan is a WAY bigger deal than we think its going to be. I bet that it plays in some way with everyone trying to unite themselves to one time and place. Can anyone say Desmond is my constant?

@Sara – Great to see you back. The start of Lost is like homecoming. : )

Anyway, I think you are correct that the Desmond on the plane piece is huge. It really does infer that this reality is completely altered. Of course, the sunken island does that too.

I read something interested yesterday on ew.com where Lindelof and Cude discussed the reason for showing the sunken island. As they put it, Jack and company were so self-absorbed in their own situation, that they never really gave much thought to what sort of repercussions would/could happen to the island, the people living on it, and the world if they detonated a hydrogen bomb. I think Jack felt it would just be a do-over but not necessarily result in screwing up two time lines.

Hi all. Nice to see familiar names again. I apologize once again for not sticking around for a year but I have no solid excuse to offer. The summers and holidays just do so much with time reduction and well, not much I can say.

Ed, although I came here again for LOST, the first thing I read was your essay on Colin. And I agree with all your regulars. Thank you so much for writing that, of course it was well written and of course it was extremely heart-felt and honest. As you may remember, we have similarly aged kids and as you said, each of us with our own set of challenges. You are doing a fantastic job and you have a beautiful family, keep this all up and everything is and will continue to be, fine.

On LOST. Great write up of course, as always. Great points and discoveries and opinion. #31- spot on! Lennon and Yoko references- awesome!

I’m not too sure about the weight given to the LAX timeline. My wife and I seem to think they’re just showing us how it is for them without landing on the island because the bomb worked (island underwater). I don’t think they suspect something is off. And (#23) Desmond being there is a coincidence no doubt, but he’s around because he’s not on the island pushing a button. I think he was there but who knows?? He was never on the plane before but absolutely can be now. And in the LAX timeline we should still assume he’s familiar to Jack because of them meeting while running in that stadium. (assuming other events didn’t change that) That should have still happened correct? AND Desmond’s sailing trip may have still happened trip too but maybe he succeeded since he didn’t get drawn into the island. So, we think the timelines are to show us their lives could have, would have been just as screwed up (or not) given the LAX timeline. And that their paths would have met anyway. And again, it’s all about choices. Now the theories presented here with the timelines meeting, converging or the need to eliminate one or the other, or the two Jack’s meeting; all would be cool, don’t get me wrong but I kind of like the simplicity of them just showing us what could’ve been and leaving it at that??

AND reading this again now, with what you said in #15, and with my thought of if this LAX timeline is just to show us what I happened, yes, what is MiB doing if free to do whatever he wishes? HOWEVER, one point here, with the bomb going off and the island swamped, that does not mean Jacob is out of the way. If Jacob and MiB are still alive…we don’t really know where they were in 1977 or what their fate would be after a bomb explosion, they could just both be alive albeit homeless. Anyway, my thoughts on this LAX timeline fit with your second theory in #18, Island Jack need to resurrect Jacob or kill MiB and thus restoring balance and the LAX timeline simply dissipates.

Sayid, I was still hung up on the fact that it seemed like he was revived in the water and then drowned because he was kept under so long. Then I thought for sure Jack would save him was modern science ways, CPR. So when he came back I just thought it took time. Good catch everyone that it’s resurrection of sorts and could be Jacob.

Great catch on #25, I didn’t realize MiB was trapped in there…I mean I realize MiB was just about every dead person around, and he was portraying Jacob, just didn’t put the two together. But how long then was he imprisoned in Jacob’s cabin?

One nagging thing for me since the beginning: Has everyone noticed all of Jacob’s folks, the Others, etc, are ALL SO DARN VIOLENT and rude? I mean really?? They were going to just kill Hurley and Co. until he spoke up about Jacob. It gets me. Maybe Jacob and MiB represent Good and Evil and the Others represent religion?

I don’t understand how we figure #21. Why?- “That’s one of the first signs that we’re not seeing a true recreation of what would have happened had the plane never crashed” What am I missing? How do we know what Boone may or may not have been able to do?

Still my favorite line, last year and this week (although it was just repeated) Frank Lapidus after seeing quite a few old friends in the cabin of flight 316, “We’re not going to Guam, are we?”

On shows and such. Nice to see you catch up with Harry Potter. Wasn’t it fantastic?? I loved book 7. And BSG we are trying to catch up on, slowly but surely. And I turned my wife on to True Blood and she LOVES it, I unfortunately did not keep up with it but want to. So, just letting you know our tastes are mirrored. One other recommendation for quality but not in our genre, is Mad Men, really good show.

@Carlos – I was waiting for you to show. Now it really is a homecoming.

By the way – although we seem to have the usual suspects commenting, the readers are in greater number. I don’t know what happened but my daily hit count has gone through the roof over the last few months – almost quadrupling – and the Lost months are usually banner months. So, I have a sneaking suspicion that all of your Comments really get people thinking, even if they are not writing. You guys really add to this mosaic.

Before I hit the Lost stuff, I just wanted to say Thank You for the kind words regarding my piece on Colin. Took a long time to write that (not the actual act – I busted that out in about 90 minutes) but to get to that point took a bit. Glad I did and even happier that someday he’ll be able to read it and see where his parents’ heads were way back when.

Now – on to your thoughts.

That’s the beauty of this show. It can prove as maddeningly complex or as simplistic as can be. My guess is the final answer regarding these two “realities” will fall somewhere in the middle. In fact, I always laugh when rereading my prior posts as I am usually WAY out there with my theories. Seriously, why do you people read this malarkey? We should assign someone else the task of prognosticating Lost.

Kidding, of course – but my point is that the fun in this show is what we do each week when we gather around the virtual water cooler. We may all be proven right – or wrong – but in the end, the conversation adds to the entertainment.

I think you’re idea follows in line with my second guess at a “It’s a Wonderful Life” scenario – where we may get a view of a potential, dark future. What could have been?

That being said, there is something to that Desmond appearance – as well as the number of times that Jack appears vexed by a feeling of deja vu.

Also, I think that cut on his neck will prove significant. They (and he) seemed to dwell on it so I think that will come back. We may see him get that in one timeline and see that it has influences the LAX one – time literally bleeding over.

On the whole Sayid thing, Jacob was very specific about Sayid being brought to the Temple although he never said they’d heal him. So, I think it’s exactly what everyone has keyed in on. He needed that body – which is different than what MiB is doing. MiB just takes the form of the dead (i.e. Dead Locke and MiB Locke existing on the same beach) while Jacob appears to have literally resurrected himself within Sayid’s shell. That makes two major characters who will likely remain dead when we get to the end.

Good catch on The Others. They are extremely hostile. It may be due to years (centuries) of people coming to the island and as MiB pointed out, “fighting, killing, corrupting”. They seem very distrustful of outsiders and fiercely protective of Jacob. I guess with ol’ Smokey prowling about (and able to take other shapes), they have to be.

For #21, in the original, Boone successfully lures Shannon away from an abusive relationship. In the LAX time line, she still in Australia, presumably in a bad situation. Also, by not crashing, Rose still has cancer and will die soon.

And here’s a huge one. Claire has made it to LA where we know she was going to give Aaron up for adoption – which she was cautioned against. Who knows whaat repercussions that may have.

Love the Harry Potter series and so glad I finally dove in and read them all. I’ve been a huge fan of the movies so it was a good opportunity to color in the corners.

I’ll toss Mad Men in the queue because I trust your taste implicitly. Now, if someone would just take Y: The Last Man and make a series out of that one. : )

Hi Ed, thank you! And for 21 and the info on Claire, you’re right. And with the cut on the neck, I forgot about that one! And this isn’t too important but over the past year we’ve been blocked from ‘blogs’ at work so I’m limited to the evenings! Stinks! With my post this morning- that took quite a bit of finagling that can’t easily be reproduced but I just had to write!

I think there are still plans for a Y: The Last Man movie. I hope so, I bought ythelastmanmovie.com!!

Y us supposedly still in the cards. Last time I saw, it was with director DJ Caruso (Eagle Eye) and starring Shia LaBeouf as Yorick. I just checked IMDB and they have a 2011 release. Supposedly it will be two movies.

My dream though would be for the Lost gang to grab the rights and just make that their next series. Let it run for 5 years – and really do the story well. And of course, run it on HBO or Showtime so you don’t have to soften it too much.

Just an awesome, cinematic story that really should translate well to the screen (be it big or small).

@Chris (aka PrfktTear) – I’ve been watching an episode a night (it’s my nightcap before turning in) so I’m about 10 episodes through Season 1 (if you count the miniseries as 4). I just finished Litmus Test, which is with the tribunal/witch hunt to identify who may have allowed a Cylon suicide bomber on board Galatica.

Anyway – it’s interesting that you mention that as I had the same idea, only with a slight deviation. A few years ago I wrote a piece called “The Best Show You’re Not Watching”. I intended to make it a recurring series but I wasn’t watching a lot of TV at the time (nor now – I just have my faves), so I dropped the idea.

At the time, I focused on Friday Night Lights – which is so contrary to the fare I usually gravitate towards (sci-fi, comedy, thriller) but it was so well done, it hooked me.

Anyway – I missed the boat on BSG but a few weeks ago, I happened to be channel-surfing on a Friday eve and came across the Caprica premiere. I decided to give it a shot – was intrigued – and then figured there was no harm in watching Caprica and BSG simultaneously.

There’s more I’ll go into when I get that post up but essentially Caprica is going to be the basis of the next “The Best Show You’re Not Watching” and in that piece, I’ll touch on my BSG thoughts as a noob coming to this a year after all the hubbub has dwindled.

I really enjoyed BSG. As much as I love LOST, I think BSG is one of the greatest tv shows of the last decade. Its not a show about spaceships and killer robots, its a story about humanity and people… who just happen to be in outer space being hunted by killer robots… 😉 I’m somewhat of a SciFi snob, and while I love my Star Treks, Firefly, and Stargates, I’ve always thought it had to have a real compelling story first and foremost, and the setting whether it be a spaceship, a space station, or somewhere deep in an underground military installation would only serve as a backdrop.

If you’re just getting into it NOW you’re basically spoiled. If you think the wait between each season of LOST was torture, try being a BSG fan. Season 3 ended in March of ’07, and Season 4 didn’t premier until April 2008. THEN, because of the WGA strike, we only got half of season four, which went on hiatus in June of 2008, and finally resumed with the rest of the season in Jan of 2009. Not only that, and you know that the series has a beginning and an end. I’m SO hesitant to get into any shows these days because once you get hooked they pull the plug. I figure I’m safe with shows like NCIS and CSI because there’s not really any massive story arc.

I have heard good things about Caprica so far, so I might give it a try. I don’t have cable so I have to rely on watching online, which isn’t really so fun, nor do you get the full experience.

@PrfkTear – I hear you completely regarding getting into new shows. I’ve been burned repeatedly over the years. The first one that nailed me was Millennium back in the 90’s. Fox was expecting another X-Files and Chris Carter offered up something different and darker. Its first season was hit-or-miss but the second season was amazing. That being said, Fox hinted like crazy that they were canceling it so the show runners (Morgan & Wong) brought the show to an apocalyptic finale that no show could ever recover from. One of the darkest endings I’ve seen on network TV. And then during the following summer, Fox renewed the show leaving the producers in a very deep corner from which to extract themselves. It wasn’t pretty and the show died a belated death the following season.

There are other shows like Freaks and Geeks, Harsh Realm, Firefly, Invasion… and the list goes on.

In fact, I didn’t really start watching Fringe until the end of last season when I knew their ratings were solid. They’re doing some interesting stuff on what once was just an X-Files clone.

I’m really intrigued by Caprica. From my initial taste of BSG – they are very different but obviously born of the same waters. The one through line is their use of sci-fi settings to explore realistic human behavior and the human condition (even when that realistic human behavior may be artificial). Pretty compelling stuff.

The show looks amazing too – which always surprises me when I spy the SyFy logo in the corner. Remember, this is the same network that set the Mansquito upon us.

I finally took the time to watch this last night and before you ask, yes, I plan on watching tonight nearly live. I like skipping the commercials!

I don’t think I can offer much more than what has already been hit upon by previous commenters and I think Carlos in particular shares a lot of the same thoughts as I do. That said, I will offer up a quick summary of my general thoughts:

1. Love the alternate timeline concept. The so far normal timeline fades to black with a white logo, this new one faded to white with a black logo. Nice little detail. Having watched enough of the Universe series on History channel, there is the thought that every single decision we make causes an alternate timeline. All that gobbledygook that Farraday was spouting. This one started with the bomb going off and sinking the island. Boone didn’t convince Shannon to return. Christian’s body is LOST. Locke DID go on a walkabout, or wheelabout in his case. Hurley isn’t cursed with bad luck. Desmond did finish his race (and was really on the plane home). Plane shook while passing over island because still hotbed of magnetic energy. What I think happens here is everyone that counts still gets drawn together somehow, but just in LA instead of on the island. Whether this timeline somehow merges back to the normal one, I don’t know for sure, but I’m leaning more towards it doesn’t. That the point is to see how these people need to come together to accomplish something. (More on that in next point.) Balance to the Force. Good v. Evil. Whatever you want to call it. (BTW: Like the parallels to the King stuff, not that I have read Dark Tower or The Stand, although I watched and loved that on the telly.)

2. In *normal* timeline, they just jump back to their correct time period. The bomb did not go off, the magnetic energy just sucked the entire work site into the hole after they hit the pocket of energy. They didn’t build The Swan station. This too is now an alternate timeline, is it not? It is certainly altered. Ben still killed Locke. Ben still killed Jacob. MiB can take the form of the dead only–someone forgot to mention Alex appearing to Ben to tell him to listen/do everything Locke tells him–and I have no idea what “home” is for him. Jacob, which may have just been the name of that body he was in, can inhabit another body that has recently passed, which is why he wanted Sayid brought to the temple. Sayid is now whatever Jacob was. Maybe. In any case, I don’t think it is entirely Sayid and he didn’t really say enough there at the end to really tell, but you’d think Jacob would wake up knowing what happened. All that said, as MiB intimated, they are all there for a reason. Each of their lives wasn’t going anywhere positive off the island and only Locke was smart enough to figure that out. That they were better off on the island and were there for a reason. Jacob obviously influenced getting them there and MiB corrupted the plan once they were. Now, just like the new LA timeline, we’ll see what they were meant to do once they were drawn together. Will we see Evil triumph in one and Good in the other? Hmm…

3. Jack’s line to Locke was telling: “Nothing is irreversible.” It seems to suggest the timeline is there to reverse something, but what? Lot’s of possibilities there.

1. I like your idea that we’re seeing the alternate time line stuff (listing all the differences) but that it’s more of a cautionary tale – not necessarily one that needs to merge to the other. Think of the old Marvel “What If?” scenarios. Good ideas there…

2. You’re completely right. We’re seeing two altered timelines (which makes you wonder – is there a third). Essentially it proves Faraday wrong… they were able to change the future.

As for MiB’s “home” – I take it that he is imprisoned on the island so I’m curious on that front too. I’ve got nothing so far.

5. I still like La Fleur. I’m telling ya’ – he’s the Han Solo of this piece, even if Han never really tried murdering Luke in each episode. : )

Hey, I was talking to someone at work this week and wasn’t sure if I saw it on site yet and just remembered watch the recap from last week. But Jack’s father never makes it on the plane. You wonder how the MIB/Smoke monster takes his form? Does the person, or the body need to be physically there for him to take that shape?

Regarding Christian – we’ve only seen MiB as Christian in the original time line. Christian not making it on the plane is a direct result of this new timeline (after the bomb has been detonated).

As for the body having to be there – my guess is yes. He’s been Yemi (Ecko’s brother), Alex (Danielle’s daughter), Locke and Christian – all of whom had their dead bodies lying around the island. So the evidence seems to point to the body
(or soul) being there (as we know he doesn’t use their bodies, per se, hence 2 Locke’s at the end of last week’s episode).

How about the arrival of Locke’s father? Has that been clarified?
@Sean, nice write up, never realized that maybe Locke did go on a walkabout, I assumed he lied. And Hurley’s GOOD luck. Can’t wait to check back tomorrow!

I think Locke’s father was straight up kidnapped by Ben in one of his off-island excursions. Just another one of his manipulative schemes pulled on Locke – who then pulled it on Sawyer by getting him to kill the true Sawyer.

As for Ben summoning Smokey/MiB – he did indeed do that (two seasons ago against the mercs) but I’m guessing he had no idea what he was summoning. He had often described it as the island’s security system and on several cases, said he did not not the true identity of the monster. As he had never seen Jacob, nor spoke to him, I liken it to a kid finding his Dad’s gun. Ben knew how to summon it but didn’t really know what he was doing.